


Do(ug)h Bakery

by Carcharias



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Bakery, Fluff, M/M, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-15
Updated: 2018-02-15
Packaged: 2019-03-18 21:08:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13689846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Carcharias/pseuds/Carcharias
Summary: On an snowy day in February, Kyungsoo opens his bakery and Chanyeol walks in.





	Do(ug)h Bakery

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Jay in the chansooNYE exchange, that became a Valentine's exchange, but that's ok because all seasons are chansoo seasons. Coming in under the wire here but WHAT ELSE IS NEW. I hope you all enjoy it, especially JAY, and have a happy rest of your v-day! <3

On the morning in early February when the town wakes up to six feet of snow and ice dumped unceremoniously upon the streets and cars, Kyungsoo does not open the blinds, sigh heavily, and go back to sleep. He does not turn on the TV to shots of cars sliding into ditches at two miles per hour and text his boss. He does not question his life choices to the cacophonous soundtrack of children suddenly released from school obligations.

Instead, Kyungsoo gets up, gets dressed, goes downstairs, grunts good morning to Minseok in the kitchen, and flips the sign in the window over to “OPEN.” 

The sidewalk’s clearly been plowed but there’s still a hefty two feet of snow piled against the door and the plow has left a nice sheen of ice behind. Kyungsoo sighs.

“Minseok? Where’d we put the ice melt and shovel?” 

Minseok pops out of the kitchen, arms covered with flour, dough, and sugar up to his elbows and apron so coated it looks more pastel than forest green. His face and hair, as per usual, are pristine.

“What, why?” he asks, then looks outside. “Holy shit it really came down.” He yawns, stretching a little. “I’ve been in the kitchen since two with today’s batches; I didn’t even notice. Anyway, the stuff should be in the back closet.” 

“You can go on back upstairs once the last batch is done,” Kyungsoo says. “I think I can handle the shop alone today.” Minseok smiles gratefully and disappears again.

After clearing the front of the bakery just enough to get the door open properly and setting out the sidewalk sandwich board, Kyungsoo tries to figure out what to do today. He could clean, but… He looks at the near-spotless floors and shining tables. Minseok’s got that covered. He eyes the dust-free lightbulbs. Maybe too covered. He doesn’t want to close up the shop—who knows if someone might brave the cold and come in. He doesn’t think anyone’s _that_ desperate for their cookies in particular, but it’s cold and snowy, and maybe someone will want fat and sugar and chocolate. 

Plus, it’s not like he can say the snow affected his commute down the stairs.

He finally decides to finish up some Valentine’s Day prep—cutting out decor for the bakery itself, making cupcake toppers and folding boxes for pastry sets. Minseok doesn’t care much for Valentine’s Day beyond what it does for their profit margins, and Kyungsoo acts like he doesn’t, but really, he actually enjoys coming up with new romantic or silly designs and the look on couples’ faces when they split a large piece of chiffon cake.  
‘  
He’s particularly proud of this year’s creation: a series of cupcakes with icing in light pink and white and topped with a small corsage of mini rosebuds and baby's breath. He got the flowers at a discount from his florist neighbor down the block but makes the toppers himself, each one slightly different but equally delicate. He can’t decide yet whether to make the cakes chocolate or raspberry, however, but he needs someone other than “why-not-just-do-mocha” Minseok to taste test it. He sits himself down at a table in a corner of the main area and begins to work.

Almost an hour passes, well into the normal morning rush, and not a single customer has come in. A few people have passed, and Kyungsoo saw a couple cars crawl by but mostly the street is dead. He underestimated how boring this would be. At this rate, he fully expects to give up and close in the next hour, potential customers be damned.

Just then, the chime above the door jingles. A tall man walks in, stamping snow off his boots and huffing over the top of a scarf wrapped almost over his ears. He is bewilderingly hatless, considering how pink the tips of his ears are and how huge his coat is. Then he pulls down the scarf and Kyungsoo nearly falls over. (He doesn’t, he actually freezes to his chair, but he feels like he would fall over, which is almost the same).

“Hello?” Chanyeol Park says, looking around while unwinding his scarf in the heat of the cafe. He’s just as ridiculously tall as he used to be, but his hair is black now, not hot-rod red like it was in college. It’s swept up too, artfully curled over his forehead and it makes him look...older. More mature. Oh god what if he remembers Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo shakes his head a little to clear it and stands up. “I, uh, welcome to Doh Bakery; can I help you?” Chanyeol whirls around and actually does almost fall over when he spots Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo tries to smile a little, and Chanyeol squints. Oh god, what if he _doesn’t_ remember Kyungsoo.

“ _Kyungsoo_?” he says, and Kyungsoo gives an awkward grin. “Oh my god, Kyungsoo! I didn’t know you worked here!” Chanyeol comes a little closer and Kyungsoo braces himself for the overwhelming hug he remembers, but it never comes, Chanyeol staying firmly over by the counter. He frowns a little.

“Actually, this is my bakery,” he says. “Doh Bakery?” Chanyeol’s eyes go wide and mouth drops open, and Kyungsoo nearly laughs at the familiar expression. 

“Oh! Oh duh, that’s obvious, wow, sorry,” Chanyeol fumbles a bit, “uh but that’s so cool, you own your own bakery!” he smiles excitedly, and Kyungsoo really needs to sit down under these waves of nostalgia.

“Well, it’s not just mine, it’s mine and Minseok’s; his name just doesn’t work with the pun.”

Chanyeol’s eyes light up. “Minseok? Oh my gosh he’s here too? I haven’t seen him in ages!” As if summoned by his name, Minseok suddenly appears from the kitchen, apron missing and arms now as pristine as the rest of him. He’s carrying a couple trays of pastries.

“Minseok!” Chanyeol waves and Minseok laughs in surprise. 

“Chanyeol! Hold on—” he carefully deposits the trays in the glass case, before walking up to meet Chanyeol. “It’s great to see you, man!” They hug enthusiastically, and Kyungsoo frowns a bit more. Why didn’t Chanyeol hug him? They were just as close as he and Minseok, right?

He comes back to himself to find Minseok and Chanyeol already finished exchanging pleasantries, already planning to meet up soon. Minseok yawns and turns to Kyungsoo. “I’m going on upstairs. Nice seeing you again, Chanyeol.” 

“I’ll wake you up when I make dinner,” Kyungsoo says, and Minseok waves in acknowledgement. Kyungsoo turns back to Chanyeol and winces at the quizzical frown on Chanyeol’s face.

“You guys...live together?”

Kyungsoo inexplicably feels the need to explain. “We’re just roommates—shop came with apartm—it’s convenient. Just roommates,” he finishes lamely.

“Oh, okay,” Chanyeol smiles, and Kyungsoo tries not to imagine that he looks relieved. A few seconds pass in silence, just too long to be normal and Kyungsoo frantically tries to recover. 

“So do you, uh, want anything?” he says just a little too brusquely and heads to the counter. Chanyeol startles and immediately begins to examine the menu. He orders an Americano and two doughnuts;—”’Doh’nuts, haha!”—and sits down in one of the plush armchairs. Kyungsoo tries to breathe in the brief respite from Chanyeol’s undivided attention.

While he makes the coffee he sneaks a peek from behind the machine. Chanyeol’s shed his humongous coat and Kyungsoo can now unfortunately see that he’s filled out his already gigantic shoulders, as highlighted by the way his sweater pulls across his chest. Kyungsoo can’t remember ever seeing him out of a hoodie.

Well, there was that one time, at the lake, with the bonfire and their friends and the stars in Chanyeol’s eyes, but—Kyungsoo shakes his head to clear it and takes the coffee and doughnuts on a plate over to Chanyeol. He moves to walk away but Chanyeol stops him.

“Wait! Sit?” he says and Kyungsoo hesitates. “I haven’t seen you since college,” Chanyeol says, “the other doughnut is for you, let’s catch up.” Kyungsoo sits, respite gone, nerves back.

“I almost didn’t recognize you,” Chanyeol says around a mouthful of doughnut. When Kyungsoo looks confused, he continues. “You have glasses now and you’re all…” he gestures emphatically at Kyungsoo’s body. “Uh. Solid,” he says, and Kyungsoo is thoroughly confused, especially by the way Chanyeol’s ears have amazingly, gone even pinker and he refuses to meet Kyungsoo’s eyes. 

“..Thanks?” he says and Chanyeol coughs. The heavy silence descends again and Kyungsoo wants to die. He shoves half the doughnut in his mouth.

“So what have you been up to?” Kyungsoo ventures after nearly choking on pastry, and suddenly Chanyeol is off. He chatters away about his work at a music studio, talks about his coworkers, grad school, his sister’s new baby. In between Kyungsoo adds his own anecdotes and it’s like the years after college never happened. This is what Kyungsoo remembers, this is how it felt with Chanyeol. He’d missed it.

(He knows about the studio, the school, the new baby, because he’s not strong enough not to Facebook stalk, but he sure as hell doesn’t say that).

Chanyeol’s ranting about his boss who only texted him not to come in once Chanyeol was halfway to work, having nearly _died_ , Kyungsoo, on his front stoop and fought his way through the unplowed sidewalk, so he just decided to say fuck it and come in to get something hot to drink before going home, because he’s already cold and wet and outside anyway.

“I’m glad you did,” Kyungsoo says, smiling wide, and Chanyeol returns his smile tenfold.

“Yeah, me too.” Kyungsoo feels both sick and warm at the same time. It’s nice to maybe have his friend back, but he’s also being repeatedly reminded of Feelings he hasn’t dealt with in several years. Chanyeol keeps staring at him in what seems like wonder, and it’s not helping. He needs a distraction.

He’s struck with an idea. “Wait here a sec,” and rushes back to the kitchen. He comes out with a couple sample cupcakes he’d had Minseok make earlier with the other batches. He takes a couple toppers from the table and places them carefully on top of the fresh icing. “Tell me what you think,” he says. 

“Whoa,” Chanyeol says, and Kyungsoo can’t help but grin a little smugly at how his eyes boggle at the arrangement. “Really? For me?”

“On the house,” Kyungsoo says. “Only price is you have to tell me everything about how it is, taste, presentation, texture. I need opinions.”

Chanyeol delicately picks up the cupcake, admiring it at all angles. Kyungsoo doesn’t remember when someone other than himself or Minseok scrutinized his goods so carefully. He takes a bite, chews carefully, eyes closed in concentration. He does the same with the second cupcake. He takes forever.

Kyungsoo can’t take the nerves anymore. “Well?” Chanyeol opens his eyes and appears to be thinking, tapping his chin thoughtfully. His gaze shifts to Kyungsoo and his expression turns, of all things, sly. 

“I think,” he says, “I should tell you about it over dinner. Tomorrow, maybe?”

Kyungsoo feels wrongfooted, like he slipped on the ice outside. “What?”

“Dinner? I’d like to take you out to dinner.” Chanyeol’s smile slips a little. “Do you...want to?”

Kyungsoo tries desperately to get his feet under him, get the thread of the conversation back. Chanyeol wants dinner? With him? “I, uh—” Chanyeol’s smile is slipping farther and he suddenly looks awkward in the armchair, like he’s 20 again and still growing into his limbs.

“That’s okay, uh, nevermind, I just thought maybe, you’d want to, I mean, you’re hot now—” he rambles, gesturing wildly, face flushed and limbs everywhere, “NOT THAT YOU WEREN’T HOT BEFORE you were just more cute, than hot..oh god.” He shrinks into the chair and flops his head in his hands and Kyungsoo feels the ground stabilize a bit. He laughs, too loud but genuine. Chanyeol looks up, startled.

“Dinner would be great,” Kyungsoo says, and the megawatt smile Chanyeol gives him brings both old memories and maybe, the promise of more.


End file.
